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7/10/09

I can not remember a day like yesterday in a long time. There was a real joy and excitement in Raptors online community like I have not seen. There was even an attempt to make #BryanColangeloDay a trending topic on twitter. The 4 team masterful trade made Bryan Colangelo, the reason for that. At the press conference Bryan was giving credit to everyone but himself for this trade. But in reality Bryan Colangelo is back to being a rock star again in Toronto. Scott Carefoot wrote a very funny piece on what he thinks B.C was thinking. The reality of things is Bryan Colangelo now has options and has according to him about 12 million to spend. That would include bringing back Carlos Delfino, the Mid Level Exception and Bi-Annual Exception. But he said that it is unlikely he uses all of that. He points out the fact of the decline to come in salary cap and the new contract of Andrea Bargnani as reasons why.

I was disappointed that Nathan Jawai was a last minute replacement in the deal. A year ago at this time I was doing research on Nathan and getting to know lots of great folks in Australia. Nathan also was interviewed here in the Dino Nation Blog. I personally wish him the best. I also thank all of the people that have checked in from Australia to the Dino Nation Blog over the last year. But let's face facts Nathan was not going to stop this trade from happening. The stakes were far to high for Colangelo to not do this deal.

I have done 2 live blogs on back to back days had a great turnout and got help from some ladies that blog about basketball. So check out Payal in Raptors Central and Nat from Heels on Hardwood. Another talented lady that covers ball is in Vegas the lucky girl. Holly MacKenzie will be in the house at Thomas & Mack to see the debut of Demar DeRozan. She will also get to see what will be high end entertainment in the warm-ups. Brent Petway AkA Air Georgia and Demar DeRozan should be quite the dunk off. Both are fans of Vince Carter and can truly sky and jam. Brent was a high school, NCAA and NBDL Slam Dunk Champion. If you don't know who he is check out YouTube and prepare to be amazed. He was interviewed here in the Dino Nation Blog. It was part of the stuff I did with the Idaho Stampede of the D-League. Being a Wolverine fan I have always known who Brent is and he is amazing. The chances are always long to crack an NBA Roster out of Summer League but I hope if not with the Raptors that somewhere Brent gets a shot. You can follow both on Twitter @Demar_Derozan and @AirGeorgia. It is follow Friday on Twitter so why not here too. The ladies I mentioned @Raptors_Central , @Nat77 and tweeting from Vegas @stackmack

The Raptors will be kicking off the Summer League by taking on the Lakers the defending champions. But there will be no Ron Artest or Kobe in this one obviously. Another obvious point that Demar Derozan will get a lot of the focus of the fans. But the person that most people should have there eyes glued to is Roko Ukic. I am sure Bryan Colangelo will because depending on what he sees he might feel the need to get some insurance for his point guard spot. However early buzz I have heard is that Roko has been doing well. The time to prove that will start tonight in Vegas.

Going back to where we started with Hedo yesterday. He seemed to want to deflect questions about the city and say that is was as much about the team as it was the city. He said that he didn't not have any friends in Toronto but that is going to change fast. I have never seen a buzz like this before in Raptorland. I am not sure if I am as hyped as the next person. However I am happy that everyone seems to be more happy and positive. The crazy thing of all of this is that it can be traced back to V.C

As one of the guys at Raptors Republic pointed out if not for V.C going to Orlando thanks to Otis Smith the Orlando G.M. Isn't is funny how everything always seems to trace back to Vince. Speaking of which Hedo will wear #26 and not #15. Although the folks at Raptors.com did jump the gun and turned the Magic 15 jersey into a Raptor one. I am sure V.C loved that. Magic and Raptor games are going to be a lot of fun this year. I think with the addition of Hedo, and the small history of a playoffs series, and now V.C as well, The Orlando Magic are now perhaps the newest rival for the Raptors. Sunshine vs Snowballs. Whatever it is seems like a fun environment fan bases of both teams.

1 comment:

Looking at the line-up. If raps sign Carlos, it's hard to see what roster spots are actually open except for insurance positions.Raps have their 3 bigs, Evans picking up the 20-24 minutes after CB4 & Bargs.Demar is going to get his, Hedo is good for 38-40 minutes, with Carlos taking up the balance of the 2/3 minutes.Slot in Ukic for 10-12 minutes a night and that's it.

Devon & Wright provide insurance at the 2/3.BCo likes POB, so insurance at the 4/5 is to likely sign a min. vet in case of injury here - like Rasho.Unless BCo wants to hold back on Ukic's development (or loses faith), another min. vet covers the PG.

So unless there's another trade, its hard to see much more excitment coming out of the Raps camp again this summer. BUT, gotta think we've had enought excitment for now. Time to see what we've got.

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